The Institute for Free Speech (“IFS”) has reviewed the laws in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, New York City, and Seattle regulating speech about government to determine how much of a regulatory burden each jurisdiction imposes on this core First Amendment activity. The following analysis examines each state’s laws according to 12 major issues (several of which are comprised of multiple sub-issues) that are regulated under this area.

Can a state government fine you simply for talking to state legislators? That is the question at the center of Calzone v. Missouri Ethics Commission. In August 2016, the Center for Competitive Politics (now the Institute for Free Speech) took the case of Ron Calzone, a citizen activist in the state of Missouri. Some legislators and lobbyists in the state...